


sleep overs and fried rice

by the_problem_with_stardust



Series: Laura Hale Appreciation [6]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, College Student Stiles, Gen, Grad Student Laura, POV Laura, POV Laura Hale, Roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-06
Updated: 2017-10-06
Packaged: 2019-01-09 16:50:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12280560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_problem_with_stardust/pseuds/the_problem_with_stardust
Summary: Laura doesn’t even have to think. It’s probably her big-sister instincts kicking in, but she squats down and shakes the kid awake.He blinks slowly, eyes unfocused. “Wha’timezit.”“Late.” She pokes at him when his eyelids start drifting closed. “Nope. You are not sleeping here tonight.”Written for Laura Hale Appreciation Week Day 6: looking through her eyes





	sleep overs and fried rice

Laura is exhausted, the kind of bone-deep weariness that settles over her soul and drags at her will to live. Grad school sucks and she’s only on her second year. Closing her eyes against the lights that flash by the window, she waits for the mechanical voice to announce her stop.

When she finally stumbles up the stairs to her apartment, it’s past midnight. One of her experiments had malfunctioned and she’d spent the better part of the evening and well into the night working on damage control. With her luck, that’s three months’ worth of data that’ll be unsalvageable.

She’s digging her keys out of her messenger bag when she hears a quiet snuffle. Whipping around, she spots one of the kids from 306 sprawled out on the hallway floor. He’s curled around his pillow, sound asleep.

Laura doesn’t even have to think. It’s probably her big-sister instincts kicking in, but she squats down and shakes the kid awake.

He blinks slowly, eyes unfocused. “Wha’timezit.”

“Late.” She pokes at him when his eyelids start drifting closed. “Nope. You are not sleeping here tonight.”

That seems to wake him up a little more. “Can’t go home.”

She gets to her feet. “Well, you definitely can’t stay here.”

“Comfy.” He buries his face back into his pillow. Which is on the floor. That can’t be sanitary.

Laura nudges at him with her foot. “Come on, kid. This is New York, people get murdered every day.”

Finally, he groans and sits up. “Don’t make me go back. I can’t take the noises.”

“I have a couch.” She holds out a hand and he drags himself up, tucking his pillow under his arm.

“How do I know you aren’t one of those murderers?”

She laughs. “You never know. I could be.”

The kid scrubs a hand through his short hair. “Yeah, I think I’m willing to risk it. I haven’t slept in like a week.”

Laura makes a sympathetic noise. The greatest part about being a chemistry grad student is the fact that, between her stipend and summer internships, she makes enough to afford a tiny one bedroom apartment. It isn’t conveniently located or anything, but at least she doesn’t have to deal with roommates anymore.

The door sticks in the frame, but one hard shove has them standing in the kitchen. Laura drops her bag on the floor and hangs up her keys.

“Bathroom is the far door, don’t eat anything out of the fridge. It’s probably been there since last semester.”

The kid makes a face at that. Which reminds her that she has no idea what his name is. She kind of skipped over the whole introduction part of their interaction. Her mom would not be pleased.

“Since you’re going to be staying here, we should probably do the name thing.”

He blinks, like he hadn’t realized that he just agreed to spend the night on a total stranger’s couch.

She rolls her eyes. How this kid has survived living in a city as big as New York is beyond her. He doesn’t appear to have any survival instincts whatsoever. “I’m Laura Hale, Ph.D. student at Columbia.”

“Stiles Stilinski, sophomore. Also at Columbia.”

She shakes his hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m going to order takeout, but you can sleep if you want.”

 His stomach lets out a low rumble.

“Or I could order enough for two.”

Stiles looks sheepish. “I’d love that, but I kind of left in a hurry and my wallet’s still in my apartment.”

“Just pay me back later.” Laura drops a stack of takeout menus onto the middle couch cushion and perches on the arm. Chinese sounds good.

By the time she’s called the place down the street and ordered two of her usual, Stiles is starting to nod off. She looks at him, in his three layers of plaid flannel shirts and shakes her head. It was cold in the hallway but that much flannel is an assault on her eyes. And probably not comfortable.

“Do you even have your keys?”

He jerks up from where he was dozing, head resting against the back of the couch. “Oh fuck.”

Laura sighs. Luckily she has some of her brother’s shirts still stashed somewhere. She might be a bit of a clothes thief, but Derek’s shirts are always so much comfier than her own. “Stay here a minute. I might have something for you to wear.”

Stiles stops fidgeting and flops back onto the couch. After some rummaging, Laura comes up with a faded basketball t-shirt and a well-worn Henley. That way Stiles has something to sleep in and something to change into if he needs it tomorrow.

“Here.” She drops the bundle onto his lap.

He grins. “Thanks!”

“There’s an extra toothbrush under the sink, and anything else in the bathroom is fair game.”

Stiles disappears into the other room and Laura settles back onto the couch. Food and then sleep. A knock on the door wakes her a few minutes later. By the time she has the cartons stacked up and paid for, Stiles is emerging from the bathroom, freshly showered and smelling like her mango and pineapple shampoo.

He digs into his portion with relish. Laura watches him, feeling both mildly impressed and disgusted. “How long were you sleeping out there?”

Stiles looks up, cheeks stuffed like a squirrel. He swallows hurriedly and shrugs. “My roommate and his girlfriend were there when I got back.”

Laura stirs her fried rice. “I do not miss having roommates.”

“So the boyfriend doesn’t live here?” Stiles plucks at his borrowed shirt.

“Eww. Brother, not boyfriend. And he lives in California.”

Stiles drops his chopsticks. “Wait. Beacon Heights?”

The shirt is for the Beacon Heights men’s basketball team, so she nods.

“I’m from Beacon Hills!”

Laura laughs. “What a small world.”

They stay up talking for way too long, but tomorrow’s Saturday so they can sleep all day anyway. It is nice to have someone around; Laura didn’t realize how lonely she was. But as the clock on the microwave ticks over to 2:30, she calls it a night.

“I need to sleep. And you do too.”

Stiles nods, eyes blinking slowly like he’s already halfway there. She nudges his foot. “If you want to stick around tomorrow, we can go to brunch.”

“Dinner and breakfast? Are you sure we aren’t dating?”

Laura snorts. “You are not my type, sorry. But we’re at least friends, right?”

“Best friends if you take me somewhere with waffles.” He mutters, face smashed against the back of the couch.

She rolls her eyes. “I think that can be arranged.”

“Night, Laura.”

“Good night, Stiles.”

**Author's Note:**

> this is a prequel to mashed potatoes and milk runs  
> the actual part three i promised should be up late tonight/sometime tomorrow
> 
> what do people even eat for proposal dinners? 
> 
> Come say hello on [tumblr!](https://theproblemwithstardust.tumblr.com)


End file.
